Biology

Researcher sent thousands of emails trying to get paper published

Book of the week: A memoir wrestles with moral questions about using animals in research. Kristin Andrews writes

A clear-eyed study of shiny and new inventions calls for better oversight, says Richard Joyner

Anonymous interviews explore how scholars use gossip to warn others of wrongdoers – but it may not always work

Would you prefer to live as a badger, an otter, a swift, an urban fox or a deer? We speak to the academic who did all five

A former laboratory manager claims he was fired from California State University, Northridge due to his religious beliefs

Japanese biologist awarded for his research on autophagy 

Why are postgraduates and postdocs so expendable and professors so untouchable, asks a geneticist subjected to a paranoid boss’ abuse

A crow named Betty is one of the highlights in a fascinating study of an exciting area of research, says Tim Birkhead

From climate change to artificial intelligence, constructal law has a theory, says Richard Joyner

Book of the week: Fred Inglis delights in a grafting of art, lore and literature that logs our lives with natural wonders

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on a revealing study focusing on the evolution of unleashed canines

Knowledge of our genetic code has been used for good as well as ill, Charalambos Kyriacou says

What are the downsides to being able to monitor so many physical activities? asks Marcus Chown

The winner of the Copley Medal talks structural biology, fixing cars and sleeping soundly

Richard Joyner on the Austrian scientist Karl von Frisch, who discovered and deciphered bees’ communicative choreography

Book of the week: A spirited palaeobotanist’s memoir splices flora with friendship and family, says Cait MacPhee

James Delbourgo on a study of how scientists shared information and how through it they constructed the nation as an object of study

Money is designed to help institutions ‘attract and retain the best and brightest researchers from around the world’

Most research isn't rocket science, so just do your best, says Beth McMillan

Budding scientists get a chance to enjoy ‘thrill of discovery’ in research in schools project led by schoolteacher academic

It’s not all selfishness: Charalambos Kyriacou on how genes cooperate and combine forces to preserve their DNA dynasties

Jisc Digifest hears openness could bring benefits, but some cite plagiarism risks

UK among the worst performers in analysis of 69 national academies

Robyn Arianrhod on how Enlightenment android-builders and modern biologists shaped the sciences of life and artificial intelligence

Techniques used by scientists led by Ruth Gates and backed by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen are coming under the microscope. Jon Marcus reports from Hawaii

Cait MacPhee on back-of-envelope calculations and other tools to assess value and assumptions

Inga Zeisset on an engaging, beautiful and absorbing collection of tales

Tiffany Taylor on a thought-provoking view of the forces acting to ensure survival

Matthew Reisz recalls some memorable examples of academics venturing beneath the sheets

Two researchers have got to grips with the evolution of the penis

We talk to the Princeton research scholar about being a fighter pilot, mindfulness and the existence of little green men

Simon Underdown relishes an engaging study of evolution that delights in breaking the fourth wall

Country’s standardised test shows improvements in undergraduates’ general and subject knowledge

A leading researcher on diseases spread by insects and ways of combating them has died

Local officials wanted too much control over academic programmes at Nazareth branch campus, says Texas A&M

Are scientists just uninterested in religion or actively at odds with it?

The work of a medical pioneer is painted on a canvas rich in domestic detail, says Helen Bynum

Wageningen University president and author of Hamburgers in Paradise: The Stories Behind the Food We Eat on her appetite for good books, from Primo Levi to Claudia Roden.

Scary puddings, the art of succinctness and First World War myth-making: perspectives from the author of Have Bacteria Won?

The history of a sanctuary where science meets art is an emotionally charged work, says Timothy Mowl

Helen Bynum lauds an exploration of the moral and social aspects of science through the evolution of a leading publication

UK is top in life sciences while Asia performance varies

Researchers must tell a good tale about their work without skewing the science, Cait MacPhee says

Anne Carter on the complex workings of our canine companions

Study finds ‘super ties’ with another academic can lead to higher citation rates

Scientists from Japan, China and Ireland awarded for their work tackling parasitic diseases

Academic ‘scallywags’ are gaining doctorates thanks to the circulation of dodgy theses within some universities, says the founder of plagiarism pressure group

A pioneering computer scientist who offered many powerful insights into the nature of complex adaptive systems has died

Landmark discoveries have relied on some unexpected connections, says Richard Joyner

10 must-dos for postdocs identified by Catherine L Drennan, professor of chemistry and biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor identifies the top academic ‘habits’ postdocs need to reach the next level

This perceptive ethnography takes Randy Malamud behind the scenes at the penguin pool to ask if the institutions are scientific and educational enterprises or just commercialised animal spectacles

Academy Award-winning actor visits archives and old laboratories where the famous British scientist worked

Alternative treatments in healthcare plan is latest in a series of homeopathy-related controversies

Postponement of responsive mode grants partly aimed at preserving success rates while research council makes ‘additional large investments’

The rise in ‘kilo-authors’ and ‘gift authorship’ is causing the academy to rethink how it assesses the worth of academic publications

Charalambos P. Kyriacou commends an epic analysis of a scientific revolution

Bibliometric analysis concludes lower-quality thresholds in 2014 are more likely explanation for doubling of top-rated research

Alison Hayman says that she is ‘not incapable’ and her treatment was ‘unjust’